Impossible to select sub-layers with Auto-Select

[marcob82939744]

Hi there,

our company just updated to CC2018.

As I often work with layers and sub-layers I noticed that the Auto-Select tool after the update often selects the "mother"-layer instead of the sub-layer I target, which is a no-go for my work-flow.

Even when right-clicking on the target sub-layers to manually select them, it won't recognize them.

Has anybody encountered the same problem and has a fix for it?

Thanks!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

What do you mean by

sub-layers

exactly?

A screenshot with the pertinent Panels might have made that clear right away …

[c.pfaffenbichler]

If you should have been talking about Groups: What are the Move Tool’s settings in the Options Bar?

[marcob82939744]

I guess the right term would be clipping-masks.

The move tool settings are set to Auto-Select: Layer.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

I don’t seem to have any problems with Auto-selecting Layers that are Clipping Masked.

Please Prost meaningful screenshots including the Layers Panel to illustrate your problem.

[melissapiccone]

This is normal behavior and it has always worked this way. You need to manually select the layer that things are clipped to...

[marcob82939744]

I'm afraid c.pfaffenbichlers screen capture proves this is perfectly possible and my workflow has always depended on this.

[Bojan Živković]

Perhaps your sub-layers are locked? When layer which is clipped to some other layer is locked, Move tool with Auto Select > Layer will select the bottom layer or layer to which is clipped layer which you want to select.

[Theresa J]

Are you sure your layer structure is exactly like c.pfaffenbchlers screen capture? Maybe your very top layer is an adjustment layer, or a color fill that is clipped to a lower layer, but without a layer mask. Auto select layer will select the top most layer if it fills the entire composition, even if that layer is just applying a color or tone to the layers below. This accidentally happens to me all of the time. I get around this problem by locking that layer so auto select will bypass it.

[cinziamarotta]

Hi,

I suppose it depends on the selecting area, you should grab the sublayer on the edge of the clipping mask...

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Well, either I don’t understand what the OP means in the absence of meaningful screenshots or Photoshop behaves differently on my computer.

[marcob82939744]

Unfortunately I can't capture my screen on my work PC but the manipulation you're showing is not working on my files.

Strangely enough, if I reproduce the same thing with simple shapes it works just fine.

Copying all the layers into a new file didn't help either so I still haven't figured out a solution.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Strangely enough, if I reproduce the same thing with simple shapes it works just fine.

Please clarify: is the problem that you always select the base layer or the topmost of the clipping masked layers?

[marcob82939744]

It's always selecting the base.
As I said I can reproduce the setting on your screen capture which is leading me to the conclusion that the problem might be related to the fact that the files I work with were created in CS6 (I updated to CC only last week). I'll report back after some testing.
Thank you all for your contributions.

[melissapiccone]

It's behaving differently because your clipping mask is not completely covering the layer below. I don't think I've ever made a partial clipping mask.